St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-16

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w. * q I the railroad has
~ E<E5tAMII run through it for
"A {EIgAFy 49, X many Il year, now
EWS KSexagtWEs-E ~ upon embank-
ISNSN merits which slope
StEHg 10 creeks and in
IN LET'S, now through
narrow cuts with
high Hills rising SIX, 7 on either side.
Day after day. y,ara.t,ryear. the trains
20 to ;.nd ne. alid some tiGes'reckless
wayfi;rcrS arr seen in The brightness of
the mitt.ay i!;,!;ng their way from
eSti Il tn tic rear. Il village. or re-
turn M. O! tiiv ~: road track.
But t! ere are few WHO venture that
way after sun own. II is dangerous.
they say. A;iy have met their deaths
thr ugh itlly q Il is kind And this is
true. Nevtr;liei; - tli"i1 ar" those
among them who are thinking OF the Rail
way Ghost.
1t is the ghost of woman. A dozen
Years amt mere since she died. And
ALWAYS at dusk that faint, sad wrath
i.oats to and fro over the shining steel
rails tlt@t run Down cityward from
Yves ti:cld between the high rocks ard
EeEeath the first { ark arch OF stone: it
is there tie white shape floats and fades
ana rtappcars. For II was at that spot.
I here is Il curve Immediately
beyond the bridge, and all shut in by
,nik. lGu can scarcely breathe having
heard the FIRST Gull roar of the all Each
lag train. ere it is upun yea. ieap;ng
and siritking. and tne carriages dance
by like mau creatures.
But the pale @iioSt klows 10 fc:r 1t
fingers there as ever. And fourteen
years ago there WAS lao ghost.
Let us turn back fourteen years and
read the story.
1t is morning in June. Morning in
tile great city. The san shines sweetly.
the leaves OF ivy and wisteria simmer
in the SOFT Whit. where the thick vines
have hidden sUnOre brown stone eX-
teriOrS.
lnnumeral;le aggressive sparrows
compete. carriages CHATTER through the
cloSe-hulit Gloss streets occasionally,
and hand organ somewhere is meas
urirg oil yard lengths of The Little
Duke"
Two people hear the tune as they
stand smiling i'll each others eyes.
They stand near tie window in the
drawing room OF enc of those fine
brown StGne. WiSteria-mantIcd man
sions, tie window is OF e.led little,
and the tui:e comes up i'll blithe stacca-
to; onc almost hears the words:
See now his face he covers:
lie was The prince Ct lovers.
The two people stand smiling little
longer: then the man turns from the
woman.
Il must go, he says. Everything is
prep; red. lou will Tot fail at the last
moment? You will o. be afraido'
He is tall. and Clark and large-framed;
she is slight. and 1iir and petite.
She looks him with great shining
eyes of azure.
''oh no." she says: Il will not fail. l
am Woman.
Then au revoir," he says. cat 81
will meet the cab at the station
'Good-bye,' she says. and watches
him go out and down the sunny street.
lie was the prince of lovers"-the
hand-organ filings it at her from the dis
lance. And she huns the tune as she
goes about her task. Her task is great,
yet little. Only to write letter-the
briefer the better. All else is complete.
Her traveling-bag is packed She is
ready to gO-to leave all-fOr him whom
she loves.
The letter is brief She writes it
without tear or pang.
GEORGE it says, Il have gOne-for-
ever. Do not seek me. l have never
loved you. No one is to blame. was
never happy as your wife. IRENE
AS the clock strikes the half hour be-
fore 3, she places the letter where it
will easily be found. and goes out into
the sunshine-goes out from her hus-
bands home forever.
The lovers travel far away; they
journey unmolested. even by conscience,
The woman is happy in her choice.
They have no wealth compared with
that once hers. But they have each
other.
Months slip by. They rarely speak
of the past. But at length she saws to
him one day:
George could not have cared much.
He will soon cut the legal knot.
And we can be married; can't we,
FranciS?"
Yes" he answers carelcssly.
Other months Slip by. The lovers
the great city, but somehow do not care
to rest there. 1t is another June. more
Sultry and like midsummer.
1--WE will go to some near tOwn-some
quiet waterside place." he decides. And
she agrees with him. He will re-enter
business i'll the city; he is tired of idle
ness, he says.
1t is in the old town of Westfield that
they chance to find that which they
seek. A house upon hillside, looking
one way down upon the distant rail-
road and one way down upon the green
sea water.
1t is a pretty house when all is fixed
and fitted. But it is lonesome-yery
lonesome for the woman who is left so
much alone. while he is absent in the
city. Left all alone with only ser
want and the summer wind to speak to
her. And so, if she grows pale and
gloomy and ceases to smile when he
comes home, what wonder?
And he. too. seems to have changed
There is a shadow growing UP between
them. Faint and vague. yet ever pre-
sent. Ever present in the long hours of
the summer day. Ever present in the
long hours of summer night. And
deepening and spreading like wall to
separate these two.
And gloomy looks and tears bring no
relief They only serve to chill his
waning love.
Deeper and deeper grows the shadow,
colder and colder grows his love, until
one day comes the end. Wearied of
her gloom and tears he speaks his sharp
reprOaches, and they part in bitter
anger. He goes off to the city and she
sits nursing her dull heart-ache all dav
long.
Evening comes, but he does not re-
turn. She watches and listens. but he
does not come. She will not break her
fast or quench her thirst; but he does
not come. She hears the trains come
laundering in and hearkens for his foot
step, but she hears no sound. Quieter
and quieter it grows. She waits for the
midnight train. She watches at the
gate, watches the DAD as far as she can
see in the cloudy atmosphere
She whispers hisiname over and over.